Witty title required - no experience necessary

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We’ve both had a decent nights sleep and Ian’s cold is feeling a bit better. Good job as there are no chemists open till Monday (the one in the last campsite close at noon on Friday) and we’ve discovered that they don’t sell cough medicine in supermarkets here!

We decide to take advantage of the campsite shower before leaving. There is just one shower and one loo each for ladies and gents so there is a queue. No one is actually using the shower (I guess they don’t want to pay the hefty add-on shower fee) but they are using the room as it contains a basin. The wind is bitter so we all cram inside…no sign of social distancing here! Finally I get inside, only to find that my shampoo and soap have migrated to Ian’s wash bag and they don’t provide any. I really can’t be bothered to queue all over again so a hot douche is all I get. At least I still have my toothbrush and toothpaste!

It’s now 9.30am and time to leave. We top up our water container and set off a mere 10km down the road to Hofn (pronounced ‘hump ’ with a deep intake of breathe…like in a hiccup!

Hofn, a sleepy little village, turns out to be an interesting place. We pass a colourful harbour and make our way up to the promontory. Here we find a statue and the start of a nature walk which gives us a lesson the planets. We start with the sun which has a large silver orb and t hen make our way to most of the other planets. At first we think that someone has pilfered the orbs from the others but Ian then works out that the orbs are still there but smaller…to illustrate the differences in size compared to the sun. They are also spaced out to give a feel for their relative distances in space. We find them all except for Neptune, Uranus and Pluto…they probably exist somewhere in the coastal path but miles away from where we end our walk! Anyway, it’s a nice little interlude and today is dry albeit a little chilly.

We retrace our journey back to the main ring road and officially leave southern Iceland, entering into the eastern region.

Another side trip takes us down a rough stone side road to Stokknes promontory. It’s not exactly single track but there are some idiots driving far too fast and there’s a near accident as some idiot overtakes us as we slow down for an oncoming vehicle. Fortunately for the driver, the other vehicle also stops and he just about squeezes through, speeding off into the distance and leaving clouds of dust behind him. There’s some nice views but we decide not to go the full distance to the Viking Cafe at the end for fear of a cracked windscreen.

Rejoining Route 1 again, we find ourselves driving through a long dark tunnel…first time we’ve lost daylight this trip! It seems strange but we emerge the other end unscathed :-)

There’s no more stops now till we reach Djupivogur, 100km away. Googlemaps says that’s an hour and a half away but we know it will be more as the speed limits are low here. We also make a number of photo stops. The drive is very scenic, hugging the coast as it weaves in and out of watery inlets which are shadowed by steep mountains. We also have a number of single lane bridges to contend with (first come first served) and a long causeway but in general the motorists are all very well behaved.

Djupivogur provides another interesting stop, once we work out the back street system as googlemaps says no! In the first instance we end up in a dead end residential street…though the views are quite pretty! And I don’t think I have yet mentioned the abundance of purple lupins here! I first noticed them as the plane touched down at the airport…they are literally everywhere!

But back to the town…we are on the lookout for some weird art sculptures that the town is supposed to be littered with. All we can see is a tour bus, a gift shop and a cafe. We are wondering if this is another Lonely Planet myth? Eventually we find the place we think we are looking for…an artists garden filled with art pieces made from old bones, driftwood and stones. Actually it was worth the hunt! :-)

Now for more scenic drives around the coast road to our campsite for tonight. It was supposed to be at Stodvarfjordur…but on checking closely I discover it’s another site without hot water or showers and no convenient waterfall either. Ian might just throttle me. I note that there is another site 20km further up the road at Faskrudsfjordur. It’s on the route so we will just be a bit further up the road for tomorrow. The site has no washing machine or kitchen but it does have hot and cold water, loos and showers. Great!

It’s 4.30pm and we have arrived at camp…we might have been here a bit earlier but thanks to googlemaps we have had to drive up and down the road three times before we found the way in! We could see the campsite clearly but couldn’t find the entrance…google did take us to within spitting distance but I don’t think our van would have fitted over the footbridge! Eventually we find the right road and discover a lovely site overlooking a lake with toilet and shower block and even a washing line…great as we have sunshine and wind and I have a few things that need a hand wash.

We park up our van and go over to inspect the shower shed. Yes it does look like a wooden shed. A notice in huge capitals announces, ‘THE HOT WATER IS OUT’. Ian takes it quite well considering. :-)

Now it’s time to explore the toilet block. We head to our respective doors at opposite ends of a metal building. On first impression as I open the door, the ladies looks like a tardis…until I realise that there is an inter connecting door that has been left open. Ian doesn’t seem to notice that I am standing right next to him whilst he is using the urinal. It makes him jump when I announce…seems like the toilet paper ‘is out’ too! Good job I always come prepared with my emergency loo roll! I decide to close the adjoining door.

The saving grace of this camp is the stunning views from our van and the abundance of hot water in the loos. My small pink bucket with lid (empty soap powder bucket) which Ian laughed at me for bringing now comes in very handy for transporting hot water up to our camper sink.

As there is a nice breeze and sunshine, I wash out my bright red thermals…a purchase I could not resist as I love red and normally all my camping/walking gear is black or grey as I am forced to buy mens sizes which never come in pretty colours! As I suspected, the red is not a practical colour as I am left with a blood red bowl of water as the dye runs out the moment the thermals touch the water. I don’t think Ian would have forgiven me if I’d put them in a machine with our other washing and he’d been forced to complete our holiday in pink clothing! I’d better be careful with my black thermals as I feel the same about grey underwear!

This evening Ian cooks us up some very tasty salmon with tinned peas and rice…mmmm. And now for a proper early night!

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